TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
9th Biennial Conference on Baroque Music
ABSTRACT
The style and purpose of all things furious
Sarah McCleave
By considering the “distinguishing and ordering concepts” of the dance
music of J.S. Bach, Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne have explored a certain
aspect of style in considerable depth, relating Bach’s rhythmic“style”
to actual dance repertory. But this is only one aspect of style. To date,
little work has yet been done considering further aspects of the stylization
of theatrical dance, more particularly considering the “mode of expression”
to be found in operatic dances.
This paper will explore aspects of style by considering the music for
Furies and Baleful Dreams in theatrical music dating from circa 1670 to
1750. Do Furies or Baleful Dreams have consistent manners of presentation?
Are stylistic differences a matter of a composer’s own style, or
are they attributable to the dramatic context? Handel’s “stylization”
of these dances will form a focal point, as compared with Matthew Locke,
Henry Purcell, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Jean- Pierre Rameau.
Last updated on 22 March 2000 by Yo
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